Some players you need to get familiar with:
1. Greg Oden. Nickname: GOSure this may seem obvious, but some mistake Greg for a 40 year old retired NBA veteran. Greg's knee is doing great, and is my top candidate for Rookie of the Year this season. He is over 7' tall and has beefed up a lot since college. Many fans and media think the hype will be too much for GO, I do not. He is a very mature 19 year old, he alone will be at least 5 more wins this season. All he needs to do is rebound, block shots, and play defense.
2. Rudy Fernandaz from Spain.
I like to say that Rudy and I are built identically (6'5 - 185 lbs) he can grow a lot more facial hair than I can. The Blazers drafted him last year, but he played in Europe because he could make more money there (due to our cap space) plus we didn't really have room for him. Do not be surprised if he finishes as a co-Rookie of the Year with GO. Yes he is that good, the complete package.
3. Jerryd Bayless - Arizona. (who we traded up for and got 4th in this years NBA draft)He is 6'3" and 200lbs (actually that is more close to me with my new body, haha). Though everyone wants Jerryd to be our point guard, naturally he is a two guard. KP (The league's best GM, Kevin Pritchard) says right now they just want to let him play and experience the NBA game. Rather then trying to change his game and this crucial point in his career. He is averaging 27 points in summer ball, yes it is summer ball, but still I have been pleasantly surprised. He actually attacks the basket very similarly to B-Roy, a slasher very quick off the bounce.
Others are Nicolas Batum of France who is very young but looks very promising. He is still a few years away. Still undecided if he will make the 15 man roster this year or return to Europe where he can make more money. Also new assistant coach Joe Prunty who has had a lot of success in his NBA career. Most recently came from Dallas, and is currently coaching a our summer league squad in Vegas.
I just wanted to give you a little taste of Rip City in the off season. The time is now, not next year or someday in the future. I predict 50 wins this year and multiple all-stars. Did I mention that FOUR of our players were selected to the Team USA practice squard: B-Roy, Lamarcus, GO, and Bayless. Brandon is not attending because he is in Grad School in the summers, and GO is healing his knee, but Bayless and Lamarcus are both playing.
By the way USA will bring home the gold next month. Opening ceremonies for the Olypmics are 8-8-08.
Rise with us.
3 comments:
Good to see you're back.
I watched the Fernandez kid in a summer league game the other day and he looked good.
Two things.
First, did you see GO at the ESPYs the other night? It's good to see GO acting like a goofball. Makes him seem less like a creepy ancient Native-American monster and more like a regular guy.
Second, I love your passion Evan, but in some ways I pity you. The only thing more pathetic than a Blazers fan is a Blazers fan in the middle of July posting stuff about how excited he is for the upcoming season.
It makes me sad because I can already see the devastation you'll experience when the Jazz dispatch your pitiful little Blazers like dogs.
I advise you stop thinking about the NBA for a bit and concentrate your powers of good on the Beavers.
Thanks for the info on the players, dear. I know it is your duty to make sure I am up to date on all the Blazer happenings (even though I get a press release about them pretty much daily...). Does that mean I have the possibility of knowing the newest Blazer info before you??? Hmm... maybe I should take advantage of that.
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